Oh, did we say "your"? Sorry, how did that "y" get there?

This morning I stopped by my neighborhood do-it-yourself coin-op car wash, a handful of quarters in tow. When I got to the car wash, there was a new sign.

For your convenience, this machine only accepts dollar coins.

I thought, "Wow, how convenient! Do they still make dollar coins?"
Turns out they do, and a nearby machine was happy to take my last twenty in exchange for several pounds of coins. The leftover coins have since been weighing down my pockets, and I'm beginning to wish I'd worn a belt today.

I understand that they're trying to push a new standard, but why do they
have to tell me it's for my convenience? It's that "Enjoy Sprite" thing
all over again.

For your convenience, employees only speak Esperanto.

I used to think earthquakes were scarier.

On April 28th, tornados wreaked havoc in several eastern states. Most notably, an F5 tornado (possibly the biggest ever recorded in the eastern US) touched down in La Plata, Maryland, flattened much of the downtown, then ripped a 24-mile swath eastward.

On May 2, NASA released a
satellite photograph of the tornado's path. (Check out the href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/Images/LaPlata_lrg.jpg">larger version.) Route 301 is the north-south highway at the left of the image, and where 301 intersects the tornado's path is downtown La Plata.

I mention this because my parents live in that area, and my mother works several buildings south of that intersection, just on the edge of the tornado's path. Luckily, her work building is still standing, and she's fine. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for many of the
surrounding buildings.

I'm moving to Peru.

I'm a big fan of open source software, and spend nearly all of my computing time in open source operating systems, using open source applications and development tools. It takes effort for me to suppress my anti-Microsoft feelings, though I recognize that much of the sentiment is unfounded, or is at least unduly influenced by the zealotry of open source proponents around me.

Despite my preference for existing open source software, I remain
skeptical of the applicability of the open source model to the industry at large. I'm always happy to see well-thought-out arguments in favor of open
source software in specific sectors, however, and (somewhat guiltily) always enjoy arguments which belittle Microsoft and its practices.

Today Slashdot posted a Peruvian Congressman's rebuttal to a Microsoft warning against open source in the government.
In addition to being a surprisingly cogent analysis of the real issues surrounding software freedom, the prose is just a pleasure to read. My compliments to the author and to the translator.

It ain't like the Caribou are using the dang oil.

Score one for the good guys! Senate Rejects Drilling for Oil in Arctic.

Hmmm. I better check the article again. It did say the US Senate, right?

Okay, it did. Whew.

Activate Turbo Blue Screen, KITT!

Okay, my sarcastic kitsch fascination with Internationally Renowned Recording Star David Hasselhoff may have to end now. My fond memories of Knight Rider can't make up for this

video, posted on Flutterby.

Alter rond excitement play following battery securement or two.

Noah was kind enough to point me to
this gem of
horribly mistranslated packaging. It's like they used an old copy of the babelfish translator that has a one-off error or something.

We'll be rich, Marge! Rich as astronauts!

If scientific credibility is proportional to font misuse and horrible layout, then the human race's power problems may very well be solved!

Perhaps it's based on The New Physics, which seems to have more material than last time I checked, and even bigger fonts. And I can't shake the feeling that Scientology is somehow involved.